Goals Check in February/March and New Goals for April

Just realized I haven't updated this blog since the end of January.

Fail, Whit. Fail so hard!

Here is a cute picture of Boomer and I from Easter Weekend to make up for it!

Anyway these were the goals I set for myself:

• Read 4 books - I started The Prince Lestat last night and it seems pretty good so far. 
• PASS!!! - The Prince Lestat,The Fifth Gospel, Rosemary, The Oregon Trail, The Wise King, The Taming of the Queen, and Outlander...again. 
• File taxes. Just do it Whitney. Also, send refund straight to savings.
• PASS - filed, got  the refund back, saved most of it!

• Start looking for/buy a dresser. Stop living like a college student.
• Sort of PASS - I know which one I want and I've almost saved the amount I need. 
• Keep up with the budgeting. - so far so good, just need to stay consistent.
• FAIL - I have not kept up with my budget as I should. Getting back on track this month.
• No food purchases at work. Yes this is a repeat, but its a HUGE money saver. Also its a lot healthier for me since I tend to choose burgers and fries at work. (Also cake, cookies, pies, you get the idea.)
• Super FAIL - I have got to get a handle on this. I will do so well for a week...and then fall off the wagon hard. 
• Save $300 - also a repeat, but I've got weddings to go to, trips to take, and concerts to attend!
• PASS - I'm really quite proud of how on top of it I've been with the savings game. 

Alright, so moving on to April goals.

• Sign up Boomer for Summer Camp
• Clean up Budget
• Finally actually buy the dresser
• Read 3 books
• Save $300
• Raise 401k contribution 1% (trying to reach my company match percentage by November!)
• Work out 3x per week.

Yes the Queen of "I don't work out" Land...is finally ready too. I haven't been sleeping well, and I'm just generally unhappy with my current skinnyfat situation. I may still fit in a size 4/6 BUT, I am most definitely out of shape. I had to run maybe 300ft yesterday to not get rained on and I thought I was dying. Can't breath, chest pains dying. That isn't ok. 

What are you up to for April? 

January Goals Check In

Well that went incredibly fast!

I can't believe we are already at the end of the month. Without further ado, let's see how I did.

• 1.      No food purchases at work - D+
• 2.      Save $300 - A+
• 3.      Gather all my tax information to file 2015 taxes, and school forms for Boomer - A+
• 4.      Record all transaction in YNAB and do my darnedest to STAY. ON. BUDGET.- C

Let's start with #1. I started the month very strong, and didn't purchase ANYTHING for the first two weeks of January. Then the last two weeks we had buy meetings with partners from overseas and well...entertaining involves eating and snacking. Overall though I did pretty well and have gotten pretty good at planning a week's worth of lunches for Boomer and myself.

#2 - Saving money is a lot less painful when you automate it. If you count my retirement savings for the month I surpassed my $300 goal!

#3 - Again...very easy. Everyone mails you everything so all you have to do is make sure your address is up to date AND that you don't lose anything. I've actually already entered it all into Turbo Tax...I just haven't hit the file now button.  \

#4 - I've done pretty well with the budget for the month. I've stayed on track entering purchases and paying attention to category balances. The last two weeks have been a little crazy so I've probably missed a few, but I have this weekend to reconcile all my info. I definitely blew the budget in one category. My wheel broke (Thanks Ohio potholes) and I had to pay for a new one. I need to be a lot better about saving for car repairs. They are inevitable, and I know the next expense coming is tires. Yay.

So onto February goals!!!

• Read 4 books - I started The Prince Lestat last night and it seems pretty good so far.
• File taxes. Just do it Whitney. Also, send refund straight to savings.
• Start looking for/buy a dresser. Stop living like a college student.
• Keep up with the budgeting. - so far so good, just need to stay consistent.
• No food purchases at work. Yes this is a repeat, but its a HUGE money saver. Also its a lot healthier for me since I tend to choose burgers and fries at work. (Also cake, cookies, pies, you get the idea.)
• Save $300 - also a repeat, but I've got weddings to go to, trips to take, and concerts to attend!

So what are your goals for February? Also my mom's birthday is coming up...any gift suggestions?

A Girl and Her Money : January 2016 Goals and Check In

It's my first post of 2016!

Many moons ago (6/24/2014 to be exact) I was really into personal finance. I was writing 'A Girl and Her Money' posts on Wednesdays. Well, I'm really into personal finance still/again and it's Wednesday and I have money things to talk about.

In my last post I talked about how 'adulting' was my word for 2016, and one of the things I mentioned was rolling over a 401k into an IRA. I mentioned that if I didn't know how to do something like that, I would ask and figure it out. Technically I opened the IRA before the end of 2015, but that is neither here nor there. Turns out it is really easy. Pick a company. Call them. Tell them you want to open a roll over IRA account. Call your old retirement company. Tell them you wan to rollover your 401k. Tell them how to make out the check. Deposit check. DONE!

Last night, I received my check, and with the miracles of modern technology deposited that bad boy with my phone on my Fidelity app. (Fidelity isn't sponsoring this post, that is just the company I chose to go with.) It was super easy (once I got my hands to stop shaking....dang coffee) and this morning it was credited to my new IRA retirement account. Easy as pie!

By the way where did that statement 'easy as pie' come from? Have you made a pie? I wouldn't exactly call that easy.

So that is my financial check in for the beginning of the month! Now here are my goals for this month:

• 1.      No food purchases at work
•  I started a new job, and said new job has an AMAZING café. I was going to this cafeteria for breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack almost every day. This translated to 66+ debit card transaction last month and a busted budget. No bueno.
• 2.      Save $300
• This is automatically moved from checking to savings every pay day so I don’t even notice it is gone.
• 3.      Gather all my tax information to file 2015 taxes, and school forms for Boomer
• 4.      Record all transaction in YNAB and do my darnedest to STAY. ON. BUDGET.

I'll let you know on the 27th (last Wednesday of the month) how it went!

What are your goals, financial or otherwise, for this month?

 

Monthly Wrap Up: Goals for February 2014

I'm kind of loving that the last day of the month is a Friday.
I dunno...I'm weird like that.

So let's wrap up January's goals!

1. More water
This is a win. I've done a VERY good job with this lately. Yay. Go me.

2.Weekly Savings Goals
This is also a win. I'm totally on track although after reading an article about it...I'm considering going about it differently.

3. Read some non-fiction.
Umm...loss. For sure. I did read plenty o' fiction!

The Dream Theives by Maggie Stiefvater (Book2 of the Raven Boys Series)

• Not as good as the first book, but I'll still read the next one.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Book 3 of the Divergent series)

• Didn't I say don't do some Mockingjay stuff to me Veronica?!?!? This is how you end the series?!!?!?

4. Open Boomer's savings account.
WIN! We went to the bank and opened it up. We also sat with the banker and had a good age appropriate talk about the importance of savings, and how to manage our money. Yay!

3/4 ain't too shabby people. Not too shabby at all!

So, Goals for February.

Obviously I'm hoping that the saving, water, and reading habits from January and December will carry over. I think after two months they are officially habits.

1. Make healthier meal choices.
Basically I've been able to get away with eating whatever I want and not gaining large amounts of weight. Although today I looked down at my right foot and saw quite the collection of spider veins. So basically my body is saying...we might not make you fat, but your body is breaking down in other ways. So I need to get it together!

2. Involve Boomer in food prep.
I want her to start being a little more self sufficient, and I think helping me prepare meals and lunches will help her with that.

3. Exercise at least 2x per week.
This goes back to the spidery veins too. I sit at my desk ALL. DAY. LONG. I need to add in some activity. ASAP.

4. Make at least 1 phone call to out of town friends per week.
I'm woefully out of touch with my friends, which is ironic considering how much I talk about blogging friends. So I need to do better about this. Just a quick phone call reaching out and catching up.

What are your plans for February? I'd love to hear them!

Goals: November roundup and December Goals

Hey All-

Slowly but surely I am climbing out of the coma induced by Thanksgivukkah. I have eaten so much food since last Wednesday night I can't even think straight. So...let's ease back into blogging with a recap of November goals.

November Goals 

1. Read More

I count this as a WIN!

I read :

Something Borrowed (Good, but I'd already seen the movie)
The Butler (Meh)
Divergent (Liked this a lot)
A Thousand Splendid Suns (This book was awesome)

Boomer read:

The Betsy Tacy Tib collection (4 chapter stories)
Started reading The Secret Garden with me, complete with British/UK accents.

2. Stay On Budget

I'm counting this as a WIN also. I was able to DRASTICALLY cut back on money spent on eating out, while maintaining a reasonable grocery budget. The financial aftermath of a divorce is NO FUN, but I feel like there is light at the end of this tunnel. If you guys would like me to blog more about budgeting and money stuff just let me know. I'll tell you right now I'm not getting into exactly how much money I bring home, but I'd love to discuss my budget, and debt goals if you're interested!

3. Exercise 1x a week.

Umm...this is a LOSS for sure. I dance around the house a lot, so does that count?

4. Get 2/3rds of Holiday Shopping Done

This is....a win? I mean I got Hanukkah shopping done...and one Christmas gift done. I still need to get Christmas gifts for Momm, Boomer, and Jack though. Yes the cat is getting a gift, I already told you I'm a crazy cat lady.

Ok so goals for December!

1. Keep reading.

Its been nice ending my day quietly curled up on my broken couch turning actual pages in my books. Also I'd really like to finish the Divergent series. I'm a sucker for distopian novels apparently.

2. Drink More Water

Since I failed miserably at the work out goal...maybe I should start small by upping my water intake.

3. Finish Christmas Shopping.

Duh. I have to.

4. Continue to stay on budget...and put away $50 into rebuilding my emergency fund.

I think it's better for me to start small with my financial goals...especially considering how much student loan debt I'm carrying...

Halloween Recap and November Goals

Better late than never right?

I'm back to feeling inspired to blog, hopefully I can keep the mojo going because I'm supposed to sponsor someone way cool at the end of this month. Don't want to sponsor her with blank pages over here in Katy-ville.

So Halloween!

Boomer is slowly but surely working her way through all of the Disney Princesses. She's already told me she wants to be Snow White next year. Oy vey!

On beggars night here in Columbus the weather was super nasty, and I'm sorry I'm not letting my kid get sick for some candy. So in 30 minutes (the drive home) I tried to come up with a fun night for her and roped in her dad and my mom. Et Voila!

Nerdy Dad

Kitty Momma

My mom dressed up as herself circa 1972, but ya'll know how she feels about me using her image on the interwebs, so you'll have to just imagine.

Look ma! A dinglehopper!

Side eye. Learned it from my momma.

We always take the silliest pics.

Daddy daughter love.

Jack and Jill!

Boomer was surprised first when her dad got her out of the car. (Dad night is usually Wednesday, not Thursday.) We told her she could pick a restaurant and that we were picking up Mimi too. She chose Olive Garden and the whole restaurant called her Princess Ariel all night! It was so cute, and she just glowed every time. 'Would you like some cheese on your spaghetti Princess Ariel?' I also happened to have a large bag of candy that a vendor sent my office, so she didn't go without a sugar high. 

So everyone has been posting goals for the month lately and I'm thinking about what some of mine will be:

1. Read more. This goal is for Boomer and myself. We need to not be so attached to screens. Also I just miss a good book.

2. Stay in my budget. I downloaded some awesome software that is really helping me get my financial house in order so to speak, and I want to stick with it. I've told Boomer no tweaking (i.e. eating out on the run, buying 'stuff'.) Poor kid is already sick of hearing about the budget.

3. Exercise once a week. I know that doesn't seem like much, but if I do it I'll be proud.

4. Get at least 2/3 of holiday shopping done!